Damien Echols returns to the scene of the crime to protest Arkansas executions

Over Easter weekend, a protest took place in Little Rock, Arkansas, against the state’s plan to execute eight inmates in ten days. The state is said to be doing this since one of the drugs they use in lethal injections is set to expire at the end of the month. Of course you can’t mention the Arkansas death penalty without attracting the attention of triple convicted child killer Damien Echols, he of the West Memphis 3 infamy.

Echols made his intentions known to attend the protest prior to the event itself. NBC was kind enough to give him the media attention he craves. As usual, Echols was ever the drama queen…

“It takes a lot for me to go back to Arkansas,” he added. “It’s a place that holds nothing but horror and despair for me. This whole situation is horrific and fills me with despair to the point that I wake up at night trying to scream.”

Oh, do you mean like the screams of the children that you killed and were convicted for? Are they anything like that?

He goes on to call Arkansas’ execution plans a ‘conveyor belt of death’, as opposed to the killing floor of three children who committed no crime.

NBC also spoke to Patrick Crane who used to be a correctional officer on Arkansas’ death row. Crane now opposed the death penalty and had the following to say…

“What if we killed Damien Echols?” he asked. “We now know that guy is innocent but we could have killed an innocent man.”

No, no you wouldn’t have. You would have executed a man who had been rightly convicted of the crimes against him. Also, for the record, Echols and crew were never exonerated. They took an Alford plea which means they maintain their innocence while pleading guilty. Surprisingly, NBC doesn’t gloss over the Alford plea unlike a number of media outlets who proclaim Echols as innocent. What almost all media outlets fail to mention is that it was the WM3 defense team who approached the state about the Alford plea. I explain why I thought the state gave in to the deal here.

Echols was joined at the protest by alleged wife beater Johnny Depp. He was asked what message he had for Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

“How do you sleep man?” Depp asked.

Maybe he should be asking how best bud Damien sleeps after murdering three children? I imagine he sleeps pretty well considering that he’s a sociopath. The Depp-Echols bromance shenanigans didn’t end there either.

From THV11…

As he arrived, Echols admitted to our cameraman that he felt that his heart was about beat out of his chest.

“I’ll catch it,” Depp said, who comforted him as Echols arrived to the rally.

Besides triggering my gag reflex, I bet that set Tumblr afire. I can only imagine all the slashfic that must be going on over there which Depp probably writes himself.

Even the bastion of journalism that the New York Times is supposed to be allowed Echols to go on about his over-inflated sense of self-worth.

Mr. Echols’s argument is simpler. He has said he considers himself living proof “that the state of Arkansas does indeed sentence innocent people to death, despite how infallible these politicians would have you believe the system is.”

No you’re not. You’re an aberration of how the system is supposed to work. You got bankrolled by all your celebrity friends which scared the state into releasing you using the Alford plea. For all intents and purposes, you should be one of the inmates set to be executed on their so-called conveyor belt.

As usual, when it comes to most death penalty stories I didn’t see a whole lot of commentary from the families of the victims that these eight men are accused of killing, much like you don’t hear about the real victims of the WM3 when it comes to articles about Echols.

I’m here to make sure they’re never forgotten. As long as Echols and his former friends are free men than justice is being denied them.